Video: Creating a photo collage

Now I would like to show you to generate a photo collage using the controls in the Create tab. I'm currently viewing the exercise files in the Photo Collage folder, which is in your Chapter 16 folder of your exercise files. I have this setup so that the preview window is very large, so we can see what we're about to create. I currently have the Buggy.psd image selected over here in the Content panel and I would like to show you how to create this photo collage using these images underneath. So, let's go ahead and select these other images here in the Content panel holding down Shift, clicking on the last image in order to select every image here in the folder except for Buggy.psd and then press Command+O to open them up.

In Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac Essential Training, Ted LoCascio teaches casual photographers how to organize, edit, and share their digital image libraries using this powerful software package from Adobe. He tours the included Adobe Bridge application, used for importing and organizing photographs, and explores every feature of Elements itself. He demonstrates how to navigate the Elements workspace, which is used to correct and improve images, combine them into projects, and produce slideshows, photo books, web galleries, and more. Ted also explains how to get the most out of each editing mode, and shares tips for correcting, retouching, and sharpening photographs. Example files accompany the course.

Creating a photo collage

Now I would like to show you to generate a photo collage using the controls inthe Create tab. I'm currently viewing the exercise files in the Photo Collagefolder, which is in your Chapter 16 folder of your exercise files. I have thissetup so that the preview window is very large, so we can see what we're about to create.I currently have the Buggy.psd image selected over here in the Content paneland I would like to show you how to create this photo collage using theseimages underneath. So, let's go ahead and select these other images here in theContent panel holding down Shift, clicking on the last image in order to selectevery image here in the folder except for Buggy.psd and then press Command+O toopen them up.

These are Camera Raw images, so they are going to appear in the Camera Rawdialog box first. What I would like to do is click the Select All button in theupper left and then click Open Images in order to open up the images hereinside of the Elements' Editing workspace, okay. Here are our images. So nowwhat I would like to do is go under the Create tab and we're going to choseProjects and then Photo Collage. So to begin, choose the options for your project.You may change your theme or select additional options later in the Artwork panel.

So I would like to show how to do this. We're going to start out withtheir themes and the layouts that are provided here in the Elements and I wouldlike to actually make some changes to them as we go along, okay. So let's startup by choosing the Canvas theme here and for a layout, just scroll down towardsthe bottom and here is the layout, 5 Side-by-Side Vertical.I'm going to click Done and when I do it's going to go through in place theimages that have in the Project bin into the frames that are part of thislayout in this collage. Okay, as you see here I had four images and five frames.

That's okay because we're actually going to make some changes to this layout.I'm going to go ahead and zoom by pressing Command+Plus a couple of times tosee what we're doing. Click on the Edit tab. Takes us here into the Layerspalette. First thing I want to do is select the top layer, which is this empty frame, and I also going scroll down the Layers palette and select the top layerwhich is this frame here.I'm going hold down Command and click on it to select it. That means I haveboth layers selected now and I'm going drag them both up in the trash because Idon't need them. So now we're down to these three frames. I'm going to go aheadand hold down Shift, click on the Canvas 2 layer, that allows me to select allthree these layers at once. With them selected now, I'm going to move them uphere in my document and over a little bit.

Then I'm going to choose Image > Transform > Free Transform or press Command+T.That's going to allow me to scale these up, make them larger. Clicking anddragging the corner node in order to scale these proportionally. All right thatlooks really good to me. I'm going to commit to that by clicking the greencheck mark. Next thing I want to do is add another frame but rather thanduplicating these frames, I'm actually going to choose one from the Artworkpalette like the instruction suggested that we do.

So back under the Create tab, Artwork, we can select from the Content palette here. It says By Type. We're going to keep that selected the way it is and chooseFrames and then we're going to scroll down here and locate a white framesimilar to the one that you have seen in the project already, only larger.Here we're, here is the frame I want. I'm going to double-click that. That addsa new layer. Let's go back to our Edit tab, take a look at our Layers palette andhere is the Basic White Frame 40 pixel 1 at the top of the Layers palette. Let'sgo ahead and reposition it and then change it's size as well. We can do thatagain this time pressing Command+T rather than just choosing from the Imagemenu and we're going to scale this in and then take the center node and drag itdown to match up next to these three frames.

All right that's looking pretty good. I might do something a little bit like that,then commit to it. I'm liking the way this is looking. I think I mightselect these three guys again. Click on Canvas 4, hold down Shift, click onCanvas 2, and this time I'm going to nudge with the right arrow key, just tomove them over a little bit and create a little bit more space between thesesets of frames. All right, with the top layer selected doing, again nudgingwith the right arrow key.All right so now I need to put a photo inside of this frame. We can review ourProject bin, here is the Enzo Buggy ride photo that I want to drag in therefrom the Project bin, so we will do that. There is the image, we can go andhide the Project bin. We can scale it down some; we can reposition it withinthe frame. So that he is more centered and then we can commit to that.

I think also would like to change the size of the stroke around the frame. So,I'm going to double-click on the Effects icon over here to bring up the Stylesettings reduce the size of that to match the other three, that's looking good.Click OK and I think the last thing I want to do is actually change thebackground to match my theme of Enzo being in the buggy.Let's go ahead and do that, we will go into the Create tab again, into Artwork.Rather than Frames we're going to choose Backgrounds. I'm going to scrollthrough here and find one that matches the buggy theme a little bit better thanthis canvas one. Not that there's anything wrong with this canvas background,it actually looks really nice.

But I like this one here. I'm going to go ahead and double-click that to applyit. Now we have this background with this cards underneath the images. I reallylike that. If you want to we can just do a little bit of fine tuning, I think Imight like to do that here, I'm just going to go ahead and nudge down usingarrow key, down arrow key and then I might even scale it up just little bit,there we go.Commit to that and I don't like the fact that its head is being cropped off inthis center photo either. So I m going double-click that one and nudge it downwith the arrow key until we can see the top of his head and then click thegreen Commit button.

All right so here we have it, we have a customized photo collage, we startedout using the artwork that was chosen in the Create tab and then we went aboutand made some edits to these in order to create a collage they we're happierwith. So the lesson to learn here is that you're not stuck with the artworkthat you're given, you can always modify it, make changes to it and make more your own.

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